Sovereign of the Ashes

The sudden turn of events left Sein stunned.

His emotions surged, but the particle shock grenades had drained both his physical strength and mental focus.

In contrast, the massive federal mobile suits closing in around him and the fleets still firing furiously nearby remained mostly unaffected. They had clearly come prepared.

A specialized graphene coating shielded the federal ships and mobile suits, allowing them to shrug off the effects of the particle shock grenades.

As Sein plunged downward, he noticed that while most of Nexon’s robots were also tumbling out of the sky, a small number had managed to resist the blast.

Titanfang, the Rank Six intelligent robot, was still standing firm!

Many of the robots behind it seemed only slightly affected.

The first thought that crossed Sein’s mind was the unresponsive, unfinished world-class Magic Cube.

Weakened and battered, he crashed into a silver-gray asteroid below.

The most basic law in the Astral Realm was gravity.

The pull that dragged Sein and the others toward the asteroid belt was not just its natural gravity, but also certain measures the federation had clearly set in place beforehand.

This was no ordinary asteroid belt. Lining its surface were countless self-propelled artillery.

The federation’s garrison fleet had anticipated Sein and his group’s landing, which was why their firepower in this sector was more concentrated than anywhere else.

Swarms of drones, mobile suits, and warships converged on his group.

Caught in the federation’s inescapable net, Sein clung to consciousness, frozen in indecision.

For a fleeting moment, he thought about death.

“Activate backup power source!”

One after another, explosions erupted around him.

Nexon’s intelligent robots had made their choice. They would never bow to their former masters. They chose freedom, even if it meant death.

The explosions were not triggered by the intelligent robots alone.

Though the intelligent ones were only a minority, most of the self-detonations came from the awakened ordinary robots.

The shockwaves from the blasts hurled Sein diagonally away from the battlefield.

The fact that he could not even withstand a force like this showed how weak he was right now.

His body and mind, already dulled by the particle shock grenades, were powerless to stop the federal fleet’s advance.

Beyond the self-propelled artillery attacking the battlefield where Sein and his allies were, the fleets stationed farther back also pressed forward, unleashing fresh waves of fire.

The federation clearly placed absolute faith in its secret weapons. They believed that no one could keep fighting once hit by the grenades.

This offensive was meant to be the final blow, wiping Sein and his companions out completely.

Indeed, countless Nexon robots either blew themselves apart or were shot down by the federal fleets.

Within moments, Titanfang and the others had already suffered losses beyond recovery.

During that time, Sein endured relentless bombardment, taking hit after hit from long-range artillery.

Unable to muster the strength to cast a magic shield, he was gravely injured in no time, even with his tempered body.

His old wounds had never fully healed, and worse still, he no longer had the strength to even pull out the Golden Apple Potion to recover.

If the federation’s secret weapon could cripple a Rank Six creature from Magus World, then it was no surprise that a mere Rank Four mage like Sein stood no chance.

“Am I really going to die here?” Sein wondered as another terrifying white beam streaked straight toward him, radiating a chilling stillness.

The beam that was strong enough to cripple a Rank Five being tore through his chest.

A gaping hole was left behind as both flesh and elemental particles were instantly vaporized.

Sein’s life force plummeted, fading rapidly.

That single devastating strike had come from the capital ship.

When the life-detection radar confirmed Sein’s life force had plummeted to the brink of death, the fleet’s capital ship ordered two frigates to retrieve his body, while the main destroyers shifted their fire to the remaining hostile forces.

Yuri was not far from Sein. She had been fighting next to him the entire time.

But the particle shock grenades had struck her as well.

She struggled toward Sein’s position, thinking that even dying at his side would be better, but her efforts were in vain.

At the same time, several federation artillery fired directly at her.

Yuri’s situation was slightly better than Sein’s. Seated within her silver mecha, she could still at least initiate its self-destruct sequence.

Like the other intelligent robots, she would rather blow herself apart than be slaughtered or captured by the Gallant Federation.

Just as Yuri pushed her body to end her life with defiance, something unexpected happened.

A sudden ripple of strange force appeared in the starry expanse, triggering massive explosions throughout the federal fleet.

The disturbance appeared without warning, catching both sides on the battlefield off guard.

“Have the Magus Civilization’s reinforcements arrived?” Titanfang scanned the void around it in excitement, but no Magus Civilization’s legions were seen.

However, the force had thrown the federal fleets’ formation into chaos. Many space-time rifts and tiny wormholes were also seen scattered across the starry sky.

As one of the federation’s vital transit hubs, the Alpha-007 Star Domain’s spatial barriers were far weaker than those of most star domains.

With no reinforcements in sight, despair, hope, and disappointment flashed through Titanfang before it steadied itself and led the other robots toward the nearest wormhole.

The federal fleets thought victory was already theirs. They did not realize Titanfang and quite a number of Nexon robots had endured the grenades’ effects. That alone was a variable they had not accounted for.

And now, another variable had appeared!

What was that sudden surge of power?

Soundwave energy?!